happiness

I like happiness a lot. I look at all the latest scientific evidence on the subject, I study it in myself. I try to engage with as many people as possible who are happy. I exercise because I love the happiness feeling that you get when you’re done. But out of all the possible ways to happiness, in my opinion meditation practices are the best. I practice a lot of different practices such as sitting, standing, reclining and moving meditation.

I love all the amazing scientific research that has come out in the last few decades about meditation. But, I think the real noble prize and future of science is looking into energy fields that interact with the mind and body. Now, this might fall under quantum mechanics or some other scientific model that has not yet been discovered.

In the West, we like to look at our mind like a machine, rather than an ocean like several Eastern traditions think of it as. To get to the extreme states of bliss that are talked about in the east we need to focus our mind in our belly and also understand that our mind is an energy field.

I was fortunate enough to meet to some truly incredible Traditional Chinese Medical doctors and meditators. They don’t look at the mind as a machine, they look at it as an energy field. The practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine and meditators I met view this energy field as the underlining mechanism that beats our heart, grows our hair and works with the brain and body to produce consciousness.

Buddha in the Heart Sutra said, “Form does not differ from the void, and the void does not differ from form. Form is void and void is form.” According to Buddhism and Taoism, everything in the world is made from one substance called “emptiness.” What Western scientists call matter, particles and atoms all come from this “emptiness” energy field.
Several thousand years ago Lao Tzu said that a leader should be, “stuffing people’s bellies.” Meaning bringing your mind to your stomach to cultivate and strengthen the energy within your body. In Zen Buddhism, they say you should bring your mind to your “Hara.”

In both of these traditions, they would say a real person acts from there “Dan Tien” or “Hara.” Taoist monks would have all types of meditative techniques to control the energy in the body because they wanted longevity and happiness. They believed that if the energy was just in the head, it would be wasted and exhausted from the continues rumination of our thoughts.

Taoist are like scientists of the mind, body and universe — they recognized that the umbilical cord connects to the mother in birth. They made several observations and developed the technique of meditating from the stomach. You don’t have to have any religious beliefs, to understand energy. But the journey begins in the belly.

In Taoist meditation theory, your imagination works as the gateway towards understanding your “Dan Tien.” First you visualize it in your stomach and then it becomes an actual real substantial feeling. According to Taoist theory, as we grow up we lose this connection to the Dan Tien that we once had as a baby. Meditation reconnects us back to it. You don’t have to have any kind of religious belief in it. It’s not an accident that Western science is starting to understand a second brain in the stomach.

Happiness Focusing On The Belly

1. Place your attention in your stomach region.2. Start to visualize a small point below your belly button.3. As you inhale feel you belly fill up.4. As you exhale let the belly contract.

So if you’re having a rough day take a few moments to bring your attention to your belly. When you sit down to do some meditation try to continually bring your focus to the stomach region. Eventually after a period of time it will become easier and easier.

One of the greatest tools for happiness and a positive state of mind is meditation, there’s a reason why it’s been used for thousands of years by Eastern cultures.
Over and over again in countless scientific studies, meditation has been shown to strengthen the immune system, lower blood pressure, and build strong positive emotions. I hear people saying all the time, “I would love to do meditation, but I don’t have the time.”

You come home from work, and then all of the sudden your kids are telling you they need to be taken to soccer practice. So you cook them dinner and then rush them to practice. I suggest you develop a strategy of incorporating small two minute meditation’s into your life. Each, day you start fresh, you start with maybe only two minutes and then slowly work yourself up to more.
Meditation will build a strong and resilient brain that will protect you from future episodes of stress. As in any practice it takes discipline, but that discipline will pay off tremendously for the well-being of your health.You can’t expect to try meditation once and all of the sudden be the happiest person in the world. Start with two minutes, then go to five minutes, then to 20 minutes and beyond.

Here’s a Very Simple Meditation

A simple meditation practice is to close your eyes and bring your awareness to your breathing, without trying to control your breathing. Use a non-judgmental awareness when accessing this state.
Here’s four ways you can incorporate a two minute meditation practice into your life

In the Office
Set up a alarm at the same time every day, to remind yourself to do meditation. Then put your phone on silent and close the door. One way to incorporate a practice into your day is to do it at your lunch break. Or you can get to your office a few minutes early and do two to five minutes of meditation for clarity. Another strategy is to become conscious of early stress responses. If you find yourself starting to become stressed at work, immediately slow down and bring your awareness to your breathing.

In the Car
I suggest you find two minutes to do meditation while in a parking lot. Or while your waiting for someone in the car. We spend so much time in our cars and at stop lights. If we just incorporated a few minutes while waiting at a stop light, it would greatly improve our life.

While Waiting
I do meditation all the time while I’m waiting in line at a grocery store. Remember you don’t have to do meditation with your eyes closed all the time. You can do meditation just by bringing your awareness to your breathing while you’re waiting, which will put you in a more centered and balanced state. Try this when ever you’re waiting at the bus stop, while sitting in traffic, or even in the parking lot while you’re waiting to pick someone up.

Before You Go To Bed
I find doing meditation right before bed to be extremely beneficial. It will greatly improve your sleep. I also recommend if you’re having trouble going sleep to get out of bed and do some meditation. Find a time to schedule meditation sessions, and do it every night at the same time.